Corporators neglect civic issues: Study

You may be troubled by the state of roads, contaminated water and overflowing drains, but the city’s corporators are far more interested in renaming roads than sorting civic issues in their areas, reveals a study conducted by the not-for-profit Praja Foundation, based on information collected between March and December 2012 through Right to Information queries.

While Mumbaiites made 92,714 complaints about civic services, their corporators asked just 672 questions in ward committee meetings, of which 127 pertained to renaming roads.

The findings show the deep divide between citizen’s concerns and those raised by their elected representatives.

“These findings reflect a grave trend. Corporators have been voted to power so that they address immediate and local concerns of the electorate. Instead, they are looking at trivial issues such as renaming roads and ignoring civic grievances,” said Nitai Mehta, Praja’s founder trustee.

There have been 29,852 citizen complaints about poor roads in the 10-month period, but corporators have asked just 100 questions on the condition of roads during the same period. Similarly, as against the 16,194 grievances about drainage facilities, only 31 questions have been raised about the drainage system.

This is the first such survey to be conducted after the civic elections in February 2012, and suggests that the priorities of the newly-elected corporators are not in tune with their electorate’s.